ODI World Cup 2023: South Africa awaits Pakistan in Chennai, seeks complete domination

South Africa will pose a greater challenge to the Pakistan cricket team who are massively underperforming in the ODI World Cup 2023. They are coming into this game after an upsetting loss against Afghanistan.

South Africa is eagerly waiting to get their hands on the Pakistani side. The underperforming Babar Azam-led team is currently at its lowest point in this ODI World Cup 2023. The men in green lost to the Afghanistan team amidst unprecedented support from the Chennai crowd on Monday. 

South Africa on the other side have had a phenomenal going in the ODI World Cup 2023. Rarely have they looked so good and had such an auspicious start to a multi-nation tournament. Their batting department has clicked on all fronts and struck havoc on other bowling lineups.

In their previous game against Bangladesh, they put up 382 runs with Quinton de Kock striking an excellent century. With the 174 runs on Tuesday, the South African international became the highest-scoring batsman in the ODI World Cup 2023. 

Pakistan cricket team is coming into this fixture after suffering an unprecedented loss against Afghanistan. Their semi-final dream suffered a huge blow as Afghanistan managed to convincingly defeat the men in green. Afghanistan now has a stronger chance of finishing in the top four in comparison with Pakistan.

The Chennai pitch was slow as usual in the previous game on Monday. Afghanistan and Pakistan batters were unable to score quickly in the middle overs. The slow pitch will create a challenge but the South African batters are more than capable of taking on the precarious challenge.

Predicted XI

Pakistan Predicted Playing 11 vs South Africa: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf.

South Africa Predicted Playing 11 vs Pakistan: Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi.